Endless Possibilities
by WickedSong
Summary: Now an eight part story, focusing on each of the individual Paradox Endings. Features : Hope x Vanille, Noel x Yeul and eventually Serah x Snow. Part Two : 'Our Wrongs' based on 'A Giant Mistake'. Character categories will change as each part is posted.
1. Look Towards Tomorrow

**Look Towards Tomorrow,**

**Written by WickedSong.**

**Disclaimer/Note : So my first foray into the world of Final Fantasy XIII-2 fanfiction and I'm a little nervous. This is based off of the Paradox Ending, 'The Future Is Hope'. It is primarily Noel and Hope friendship with hints of romantic Noel x Yeul and Hope x Vanille, my two otps for the Final Fantasy XIII series. You don't like? Don't read. I do not own any of the characters used, they all belong to Square Enix.**

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Standing by a complex looking console, Noel looked on in genuine interest as Hope worked away, along with the researchers around him. The hustle and bustle of the research area of the Academy building gave no sign of the high security alert that they all had been put under, due to the rumours of an assasination attempt on the Director himself. Only a subtle increase in the number of guards - two extra on the day after the news had been revealed and then another two the day after that - gave any indication that anything underhand may be afoot. In charge of weeding out any threat was Noel, left on guard duty, as Snow and Serah went on a quest to find Caius and to return the timeline to its natural state.

Noel folded his arms and looked around. He noted nothing suspicious going on around the area at present - the attempt wasn't meant to take place for another day - and found that Hope, for someone who was facing death, seemed surprisingly chipper, hard at work, determined as always, Cocoon's well being always at the fore of his mind. He had been working vigorously, using the Graviton Cores that Noel and Serah had painstakanly acquired, almost as if nothing had happened, as if Alyssa hadn't been a spy, working in line with the enemy, as if his life didn't hang in the balance. As if none of that mattered.

There had been a silence between the men on these particular topics, both far too preoccupied with the task at hand. Hope had to create the new Cocoon to be ready for when the prophecy was to unfold, a hundred years into the future, while without Noel these things wouldn't happen at all. The future was _Hope_.

Insecurity seeped into his sub-concicious almost at once. Again a huge burden had been set in front of him, to protect someone whose fate seemed to lay with him. He had never gained Caius' power as a Guardian, had refused outright to fight the one man who had trained him, honed his talents, treated him almost like a son, a brother, a kindred spirit even, but it seemed as if he would always have the responsibility of it. Whether it be watching over the Director of the world's only hope or sitting by an oracle drive in a world where time was dying.

He clenched his fists. There would never be a repeat of when he had to watch her die, not again, not once he could just figure out-

Figure out what exactly?

How to stop her visions, how to save her from her fate, how to find-

"You look troubled."

Noel looked up to find Hope with a kind smile on his face, turned away momentarily from one of the machines he had been inspecting expertly, tinkering with the nodes and various other mechanics that Noel didn't quite understand from this time period. The silver haired man gestured to the lobby area of the building.

"It might be dangerous out there," Noel replied, taking up the role of the Guardian quickly, disgusted as more and more he felt like Caius, like everything he had ever been told by his purple-haired predecessor.

Noel looked to the boomerang that he still carried around with him, even years after his time as a l'cie was up, a cautionary measure, which proved useful, Noel recalled, when he and Serah had been in that tight bind earlier on in 10 AF and Hope had saved them.

"I think I've probably faced a lot worse, Noel," Hope commented, with a smile and a nod.

Noel reluctantly nodded back, and without much commotion the two men stepped out of the research lab, and headed to a small cafe beside the building, where Hope was welcomed with open arms by the owner and patrons. A table near the door but out of view of a window was the place where the two sat down, and Hope again noticed how on edge Noel had become.

"It's not until tomorrow," he pointed out, somewhat helpfully but this tid-bit did nothing to alleviate any doubts.

With how quickly life could be taken from anyone, nothing would be able to rid Noel of those nightmares ever, he feared, it had all happened so fast.

"So, you look..."

"Troubled, yeah, I know," Noel said, with a sigh, leaning back in his chair.

"Well, is something bothering you?" asked Hope, his head tilted, in a question-like manner. Noel felt uncomfortable with the question and this was obviously picked up on by the man seated across from him. "It's a huge burden having to protect something, just look at me with Cocoon."

"Then why do we do it? If it's just going to hurt in the end, why?"

"_It's strange. I knew all along this day was coming. But, I'm still not ready…to say goodbye. I wish we could stay together. I'll miss you Noel."_

Hope didn't know the answer to that question. Because he had been faced with it so many times before. His own anger, upset, self-loathing, how he couldn't do anything right, couldn't use time to his advantage, couldn't be successful and bring his mother back, he couldn't get back Light either, or Fang. They were so strong, their strength was his guiding light and he had to find it. But most of all, sometimes, when he would least expect it, it would cut his heart like an icy dagger that it had been technically four hundred years since he had last saw _her _smile.

_**"**_**Do something for me, will you? Keep smiling."**

Hope smiled himself as he contemplated his own answer, settling for something that Lightning used to tell him when things got rough on their journey. "Because there is always hope for a brighter tomorrow, Noel." It always seemed to be Vanille's way of seeing things as well, no matter how sad she got, she would smile and hope and dream for tomorrow.

Because tomorrow had to be better, Hope would insist, just had to be better, than their today.

Noel picked up where his friend was going with the conversation. "And there's no need for tears because...because..."

_"You don't have to cry. We will meet again."_

If Noel could help it it would not be the last thing his Yeul ever said to him. "...we'll meet again. Someday."

With a wise nod, Hope's eyes flickered with happiness. "Exactly.

**"It makes me happy when you smile."**

Hope would see her smile again - and this time he wouldn't put it down to teasing. He was sure of that.

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**So this wasn't my first ever Final Fantasy XIII series fic (I wrote a Vanille-centric drabble after finishing XIII around two years ago) but the first that revolves around this second strand of the story (and hopefully not the last, XIII-3 better be a possibility after that cliffhanger!).**

**I will be writing another one based on another Paradox Ending, 'Beneath A Timeless Sky' and if that is the case then the character sections will change as they will be very loosely related. **

**Please give me your feedback as it is very appreciated!**

**WickedSong x**


	2. Never Really Goodbye

**Never Really Goodbye,**

**Written by WickedSong.**

**Disclaimer/Note : In the first chapter. So essentially what I've decided to do is write continuations to the Paradox Endings presented to us in the game. I have a clear idea on what to do for most of them except one or two but I will try to get through all eight. The first two have been from Noel's POV mostly but that will change, and so will the character categories I place this story as a whole under. So if you want to follow, get to adding it on your alerts ;) The following you are about to read is based off of, 'Beneath A Timeless Sky' and features Noel x Yeul. Happy reading and enjoy :)**

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While a world where time stood still, never changing, always the same was not the world he had envisioned when he began on his journey, Noel now faced his toughest dilemma, standing at a crossroads between defying fate even further and losing more than he had bargined for or giving into fate and being returned to who his heart desired.

In such a world where time stopped, Yeul, _his Yeul_, who had appeared, stumbling as if out of one of his many dreams that had always become nightmares, cruel taunts about his helplessness to protect her, had no visions. There was no danger that the timeline and that knowledge would one day kill her. Even if time had stopped, she didn't have to, she could live her life, the life she deserved.

But then Caius, who Serah had managed to dispatch somehow, still had a role to play in correcting the timeline. Hope was a commodity that no one wanted to run low on but Noel couldn't help but feel that he had caught onto his last strand of it, with Yeul, his Yeul, the one he had grown to love, standing in front of him. Maybe this was as good as it was going to get for them. How wrong was that?

_Very_, he reprimanded himself, _very wrong. _Not only was this not all he wanted for Yeul - he wanted her to meet others, to know all sorts of different ways of life, to _live_, it was not what Serah had been looking for either, a world where neither Snow nor Lightning could be saved.

As Serah and Mog headed up ahead to see if the meteorite had landed in the same place as it had before their journey began, Noel and Yeul walked in an almost pleasant silence. He had so many questions, so many things to say and yet not enough courage to form the words. He had thought of her countless times, when it had been quiet and only his thoughts could keep him company. He had even _grieved _her properly, there only being what seemed like days but were actually hours between being taken to Valhalla and then meeting Serah.

"It's so dead here," said Yeul in a voice that was almost void of emotion, apart from a pain that Noel could detect. "So cold, and broken. Not like back home, but almost."

He wanted to fix it, fix the suffering she felt.

So he took her hand, in a wordless gesture, showing how much she meant to him and how much he wished he could make it all go away.

He didn't need forever. Caius' immortality drove him mad, being something that led to his demise in this timeline. That was one of the mistakes that Noel couldn't afford to let himself repeat.

He just wanted - _needed _- a future with Yeul, where he could be with her.

Yeul looked down at their joined hands and a smile appeared on her lips but before she could say anything, Mog appeared in front of Noel's eyes, startling him just enough for him recoil back. Mog laughed and a soft giggle emitted from Yeul at the reaction.

"The meteorite is a time gate, kupo," the moogle revealed in a chipper voice. "There was an artefact right beside the gate, kupo."

"Lightning?" Noel asked, thinking it was too much of a lucky coincidence.

Mog nodded his head. "That's what Serah thought too, kupo!"

As quickly as the moogle had come, he disappeared again, leaving Noel with his thoughts once more.

Until Yeul spoke. "You must go through the gate," she told him.

Her voice stirred Noel out of his thoughts and into the current conversation. And a part of him agreed with her but the part that had started this entire journey based out of the desire to be with her once again fought back. "But if I do-"

Looking slightly conflicted but still convinced in her previous words, Yeul continued. "This is not the true timeline. There are many possibilities, Noel, but these are only because time is a flowing, moving entity. In a world where time is frozen, life cannot go on."

"You'll come with us," he decided after a moment's pause for thought. "You could travel with us. I can protect you."

More than he had ever been able to back on their dying world.

Yeul's smile was present once more and her face, he had always noted this, lit up. She nodded and began to walk in the direction of the meteorite.

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"Ready?" asked Serah once they were all lined up at the time gate.

Noel nodded. "Ready. You ready?" He turned to Yeul, with this question.

She didn't reply, but she nodded. This time she held onto Noel's hand.

Serah held the artefact up and the gates of time began to open as the three of them and Mog were sucked into the Historia Crux, back to where virtually anything in time was possible.

There seemed to be some disturbance but nothing that wouldn't be fixed by returning to where they had last been - Academia - and restoring the natural balance of time, if they even could figure out what had caused it. Until, just like it had when Noel and Serah had stepped into the time gate in Academia, time seemed to go haywire, whipping up an incredible storm around them. Serah clutched onto Mog and Noel while Noel did his best to keep his grip on Yeul's hand.

He couldn't lose her again. Not after this.

"You have to let me go," she said, teary-eyed, and a watery smile gracing her face. She went to let go of his hand but he held on tighter.

"No, why? I don't understand."

The look on her face said she did and why wouldn't she. She was the Seeress after all, the one who had been able to see all of time and now that was gone.

"I know one day you will find me," she confessed, "and it's not because I can see the future and the past. It's because of hope and blind faith."

_"Noel! Yeul!"_

_"Kupo!"_

Noel noticed that the distance he and Yeul were drifting from the others was growing and soon enough he'd be powerless against the cruel tides of time. He turned back to Yeul. "Why can't I protect you, for the love of Etro, why!"

One lone tear rolled down her cheek. "Just let go."  
_"...no need to cry."_

_"...meet again."_

_"...knew this day was coming."_

_"...wish we could stay together."_

And suddenly, he wasn't clasping onto her hand anymore and she was floating away from him, down the timeline, until she disappeared. She was a Seeress without visions. That wasn't something that could exist while the future he and Serah were trying to build was unable to be found.

Serah had his hand now, pulling and pulling at him, as he watched the endless Historia Crux, now calm and serene as could be, only this time he was renewing his promise that he would find a way to her; and that they would be together again.

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**Most likely, the next ending I tackle will either be Fate Or Freedom or A Giant Mistake.**

**Please review if you enjoy, thanks for the reviews + alerts so far and please keep reading if you like what you see so far!**

**Much love,**

**WickedSong x**


	3. Our Wrongs

**Our Wrongs,**

**Written by WickedSong.**

**Disclaimer/Note : In the first chapter. Based on the paradox ending 'A Giant Mistake' focusing on Serah and Noel as they separately ponder the futility in their situation.**

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Invincibility.

Immortality.

Two things that naturally, should not exist.

Yet it was a feeling that you get almost high off of, that made you feel your strength was unlimited. Jumping through time, Serah had thought she wouldn't become as reckless but as she lay on the lowerworld of Gran Pulse, Mog only feet away from her, her body aching, blood everywhere, the only noises being the stomping of the massive man made giants and the yelps of the monsters trying to defeat them, she wondered if that was what had really led to her undoing?

She had charged into battle with Noel - she didn't know where he was now, she could only hope he got out alive - with hundreds, maybe even thousands of Atlas copies, when taking one out in the Bresha Ruins had proven difficult, and this was her fate now. To lay on the ground, unable to stand, the blood loss making her feel light-headed - she really thought she could rest right about now - her loyal companion, Mog, suffering the same fate only feet away from her.

Her mind wondered to the moment she knew her death was imminent. She and Noel had destroyed one of the giants before jumping to the back of another feet away. They had been planning to destroy the core on top of it, as they done with the others but something had went wrong, and a miscalculation had meant she had been thrown off its back. With nothing to break her fall, or Mog's, she tumbled to the ground, to a resounding thump, in intense pain and Etro only knew how many bones she had broken. Noel had attempted to grab her hand but she could only hope that he had managed to keep his balance.

She prayed to Etro in this time of a frozen peace and serenity. Prayed for the future, prayed that in some other timeline they had used that machine to weaken Atlas instead of fighting him at full power. In that timeline would she still be alive? Would their only option be this timeline where they couldn't do much but lay down and wait to die at the hands of the machines.

It all felt so futile now.

She looked up towards the sky, her last thoughts of her skewed memory of Snow and Lightning standing around her, as the world went black.

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Noel knew it was a useless fight. Hope was something that you could babble on about until the words had no more meaning and it would not help him now. Serah had already fallen to the ground and while he had debated jumping after her, a swift change in the giant's direction meant that he was now carried further and further away from where she was. He just had to hope - there was that word again - that she would make it through.

He didn't know this was so pointless from a gut feeling but from the war that left him the last person alive, the war that tore everything apart, that brought Cocoon crashing down into Pulse itself. Yet he kept hacking away at the source of power of this giant, kept trying to make some sort of dent or impression that may change something.

Until his sword was stuck. He kept pulling and pulling, trying to remove it in enough but to no avail, as before he could he was thrown off of the giant machine. Luckily he managed to fall on his feet, his quick reflexes keeping him steady. Yet now he was weapon-less on a battle field filled with destruction and death, monsters yelping in pain as massive mechnical machines stomped around.

The sky was a blood red and as he looked up he could only think that was what he was trying to avoid so much. And to think this was something that Yeul would have had to witness, to accept a world as broken, how could she?

It brought tears to his eyes and accepting his own fate, backed into a corner by one of the machines which had detected his movement and closed a gap between them, he kept his gaze averted to the sky, and to Yeul's own promise, his last prayer to Etro being that that would be true one day as his whole world went black.

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**Next one I will focus on should be 'Fate or Freedom'.**

**Please leave your thoughts in a review form, pleaaase?**

**WickedSong x**


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